The Qualities of Quiche

As a girl, I got the impression that quiche had some mystical properties that allowed only the most skilled and determined cooks to master it.  Like so many other childhood impressions, this turned out to be entirely not true.

Below, I've written out a recipe for quiche crust that I selected after several blind taste tests with friends who are all too willing to serve as ginny pigs.  This crust is simple, fast to make, and will yield consistent results. It is slightly thicker and more dense than a number of crusts that we tried (not nearly as flaky as a desert pie crust) but that seems to stand up better to the stronger flavors of a quiche.


Crust (for 1 shell)   *adapted from Rene Verdon's 1968 The White House Chef Cookbook.*
1 1/2 C flour
1/2 C butter
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1/4 C cold water

Place flour, butter, and salt into a bowl and work together with hands until smooth. Add eggs and water and work with hands until of rolling consistency.

Roll out on a floured surface to about 1/4 to 1/8 inches thick.  Carefully transfer crust to a  9-inch pan and crimp edges. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Filling (1 quiche)  *from my Aunt Jean*

Below I've written a standard quiche filling.  If you want a denser custard, add more eggs.  You can also add lots of other filling ingredients.  (see below)

1/2 C grated cheese (swiss, mozzarella, cheddar, whatever you like)

1 C lightly browned diced onions

3 eggs blended with enough cream to make 1 1/2 C liquid

pepper & salt to taste

1/8 tsp nutmeg

Put the cheese and onion (and other ingredients) in the bottom of the pie shell.  Pour the egg mixture over everything and agitate gently to make sure the egg is evenly spread.

Bake 30-45 minutes at 375 until the center puffs.  If all the ingredients are cold, it may take longer.  

-------------Note-------------

You can add any set of ingredients you want to a quiche, just don't overfill the crust.  You will need to cook most ingredients first.  I suggest frying up the individual ingredients in a little frying pan and setting them aside.  You can do this (and make the crust) the night before serving.  If you're frying a lot of little ingredients, be careful about the total amount of grease you add to the quiche.  Too much extra fat will make the custard oily and heavy.

  

Some suggested additional ingredients:
fresh herbs: any to your taste, basil, chives, oregano, etc.

veggies: mushrooms, spinach, brocolli, greens, eggplant, zucchini, cauliflower

meat: bacon, sausage, turkey sausage, ham, shrimp
cheese & cream: feta, gouda, any stronger flavored cheese of choice, sour cream, non-sweet yogurt
    (Note: By adjusting the cream or cheese, you may alter the
     consistency of custard.  Just be aware of this when you're
     playing around with the recipe, try to adjust other
     ingredients to compensate, and watch what happens.)